Site-of-Service Medicare Reimbursement Led To More Hospital Testing

Researchers are suggesting site-neutral payments after their study found hospital testing increased after Medicare reimbursement increased for hospital outpatient providers.

The Trump administration intends to continue on the path to site-neutral payment. The president recently signed an executive order directing the HHS Secretary to “ensure that Medicare payments and policies encourage competition and a diversity of sites for patients to access care.”

Under the president’s direction, CMS also sought to expand the use of site-neutral payments in 2019 by paying new and old off-campus provider-based hospital outpatient departments the same rate for certain clinic visits. The agency estimated the expansion to reduce Medicare spending by $380 million in the first year of implementation.

Source: https://revcycleintelligence.com/news/site-of-service-medicare-reimbursement-led-to-more-hospital-testing